Michael still has a few pictures of himself in the depths of his eleven year heroin use from 2000 to 2011. In the pictures he describes himself as ‘obviously high’ with a blank stare on his face and blood on his shirt.

“I was homeless I wasn’t working I wasn’t in any intimate relationships at that time. There wasn’t anything from that time that really stood out except for waking up from overdoses or going to jail or things like that,” said Polgar.

Over the course of his heroin use, Michael says his life was saved over and over again by the opioid overdose antidote called naloxone. He says after overdoing some 20 times, he lost count.

“I once overdosed and woke up in Harborview and still had some in my sock. And as soon as I was revived and stable, they let me go to the restroom, I used again, and they had to revive me again,” said Polgar.